Celebrate Valentine’s Day by creating your own chocolate truffles —and a heart-shaped box made of chocolate. Watch below as Pastry Chef-Instructor Michael Zebrowski shares some of the techniques learned within ICC’s Professional Pastry Arts program.

Ingredients Needed:

454 grams (1 lb) Heavy Cream

70 grams (2.5 oz) Invert Sugar

1/8 teaspoon Salt

680 grams (1 lb 8 oz) Chocolate (58-64%)

227 grams (8 oz) Butter (softened)

114 grams (4 oz) Liqueur

*Use a good quality liqueur like Cognac, Armagnac, Grand Marnier or dark rum.

Procedure for Chocolate Truffles:

In a saucepan, bring the cream, sugar and salt to a boil
Pour the hot mixture over the chocolate. Allow to stand for one minute, then emulsify, from the center out, until smooth

Stir in the softened butter and emulsify until homogeneous.

Gradually pour in the liqueur, stirring continuously to maintain an emulsion.

Cover the surface of the ganache with plastic wrap and allow to set up at room temperature.

Pipe the ganache into rounds that are as spherical as possible.

Roll the ganache into spheres by hand and chill again. At this point, the rolls may be refrigerated for several days before being finished.

Allow the spheres to temper from the refrigerator before coating twice in tempered chocolate.

After the second coating, roll the truffles in sifted cocoa powder before the chocolate sets. Once set, sift the excess cocoa powder off the finished truffles.

Create a chocolate heart-shaped box using techniques from Chef Michael! Learn more about ICC’s Professional Pastry Arts program, click here.